Ever since the world premiere of Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band at the South Coast Repertory back in 2018, there have been nothing but hype and rave reviews as it quickly became an immensely successful and popular production that had many others take place around the United States, with its most significant ones being at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Signature Theatre in New York.
It now finally comes to Los Angeles at East West Players under the directing guidance of Chay Yew and it is safe to say that this play is not only one of the greatest Asian American plays in history but an all around essential and frighteningly relevant play for the ages that stands side by side with some of the greatest in American theatre.
In 1978, Chum fled Cambodia and narrowly escaped the murderous Khmer Rouge regime. Thirty years later, he returns in search of his wayward daughter, Neary. As the play jumps back and forth in time, thrilling mystery meets rock concert until both father and daughter are forced to face the music of the past. From playwright Lauren Yee (King of the Yees, The Great Leap) comes a story filled with horror, humor, pathos and songs by the best unknown rock band in Cambodia!
Sothea, Jane Lui as Pou, and Tim Liu as Leng perform “One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula” by
Dengue Fever in Cambodian Rock Band at East West Players. Photo by Teolindo.
There is no play quite like Cambodian Rock Band and on a technical scale, it is simply awe-inspiring that despite the simplicity of the stage setup, the play requires five multi-talented Asian American actors who can not only act, but mesh cohesively as a legit rock band. Joe Ngo, Jane Lui, Abraham Kim, Kelsey Angel Baehrens, and Tim Liu make up this core unit as the Cyclos and like any well seasoned rock band, you have Ngo, Lui, and Kim who each have done an incredible total of eight productions in the past seven years. Their passion, trust, and comradery absolutely shows and their foundation only helps newcomers like Baehrens and Liu (who each are no strangers and have done their own performances of the play elsewhere).
The final cast member is Daisuke Tsuji who may not be part of the Cyclos as he is our narrator but he sure knows how to rock that cowbell and shakers. In total, the six cast members of the ensemble are absolutely riveting with the heart of the show belonging to Ngo who guides the emotional journey from the past to the present and a stellar featured performance by Tim Liu when he takes on the role of Leng in Act Two. And Baehrens? Not only are her vocals out of this world but she wonderfully stands out as the courageous Neary, a daughter who wishes to bring justice to the world with all her might.
Teolindo.
On a writing level, Yee has done an extraordinary job of telling a powerful and intimate piece about a father and his daughter in the horrific historical backdrop of the Khmer Rouge regime. The few notes of criticism I have is that some of the dialogue especially for act one is a bit too on-the-nose and the music, while fantastic, seemed more of a distracting gimmick than serving the story as the identity of the band isn’t made clear until the end of act one. It would serve as a stronger narrative choice to see and hear the band as echoes of the past that haunts the father character of Chum until that time comes but on a crowd-pleasing note, I can’t blame the judicious usage of the band especially when the music created by Dengue Fever is one hell of a good time.
So it’s safe to say that Act One was good. But Act Two? All barrels are firing as the writing transports us from 2008 to 1978 and we delve right into the horrors of the notorious S21 prison where our narrator goes in-between breaking the fourth wall to settling in as the cruel Duch who ran the prison (the character himself is based on an actual member of the Khmer Rouge, Kang Kek lew, who ran the prison). Tsuji masterfully inhabits this role with such cruelty but we also see the shattered humanity underneath, a man who is doing his job because he was ordered to do so without fail.
Rock Band at East West Players. Photo by Teolindo.
It’s no easy feat to tell a story about genocide yet it is a story that must be told. Having this play released right now when the most documented and live-streamed genocide in history just happened (and is still happening) in Palestine for the past sixteen months is all too relevant. While I suspect most folks will compare the repressive Khmer Rouge regime to the current U.S. administration, the eradication of the arts, journalism, and freedom have more of a parallel to the targeted deaths & destruction of the artists, press, universities, hospitals, and the countless prisoners that the Israeli government has inflicted on the Palestinians. In fact, when Tsuji’s Duch goes into his sleepless and haunted nights because of his actions, it reminds me of the tortured testimonials from the IDF soldiers who have committed similar atrocities.
The parallels of western imperialism is all too real as the Khmer Rouge only came into power once the United States destabilized Cambodia and the U.S. government even voted for the regime to retain their UN seat all the way up to 1993, well after the fact that the regime killed over two million of their own people. It has also been reported that the U.S. also encouraged military support for the Khmer Rouge, which only draws yet another parallel to the endless arms supply that the U.S. provides for the Israeli government. All struggle is interconnected and once we realize this, we can make the first steps to actual change as a collective entity for good. This is what the arts can accomplish and this is the power of what this play has achieved.
Angel Baehrens as Sothea, and Tim Liu as Leng in Cambodian Rock Band at East West Players.
Photo by Teolindo.
There is no question that this excellent play will continuously be produced but I hope to see a LOT more Khmer and Southeast Asian talent be cast as there is a vast cultural and physical difference between East Asians and Southeast Asians and more often than not, I see East Asian talent dominate Southeast Asian stories. I also hope to see a Khmer writer tackle this subject matter and be represented on the writing front. That being said, this is an excellent start to the 2025-2026 season for East West Players and while I’ve given the theatre company a hard time for their past productions, launching the season with this play is a promising sign for wonderful works to come.
The play runs through March 9, 2025 at The David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts at 120 Judge John Aiso Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 in the historic Little Tokyo neighborhood. Performance times are Thursdays (preview week only), Fridays, Saturdays, and select Mondays at 8 PM, with additional 2 PM matinees on Saturday and 5 PM performances on Sunday.
Opening Night was Sunday, February 16, 2024 at 5 PM. All Saturday 2 PM performances are “Masked Matinees,” making theater more accessible to audiences who prefer a masked experience. Monday, February 24, 2024 at 8 PM is the Pay-What-You-Can performance. All performance dates and details are subject to change. You can buy tickets here.
Abraham Kim as Rom, and Jane Lui as Pou in Cambodian Rock Band at East West Players.
Photo by Teolindo.
I leave this review with a poem by the late Palestinian writer and professor Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli military on December 6, 2023, along with his brother, his brother’s son, his sister, and her three children. From Cambodia to Palestine, the stories of struggle run a connecting through line of humanity persevering through the worst of atrocities and it is in the arts that we tell the world who we really are, even if the cost is high to do so.
“IF I MUST DIE”
BY REFAAT ALAREER
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale
فال بد أن تعيش أنت
رفعت العرعير
إذا كان لا بد أن أموت
فال بد أن تعيش أنت
لتروي حكايتي
لتبيع أشيائي
وتشتري قطعة قماش
وخيوطا
(فلتكن بيضاء وبذيل طويل)
كي يبصر طفل في مكان ما من ّغّزة
وهو يح ّّدق في السماء
منتظرًاً أباه الذي رحل فجأة
دون أن يودع أحدًاً
وال حتى لحمه
أو ذاته
يبصر الطائرة الورقّية
طائرتي الورقية التي صنعَتها أنت
تحّلق في الأعالي
ويظ ّّن للحظة أن هناك مالكًاً
يعيد الحب
إذا كان لا بد أن أموت
فليأ ِِت موتي باألمل
فليصبح حكاية
ترجمة سنان أنطون